Power
by Driliongueur
Summary: Story takes place after quincy war. Kurosaki Ichigo thought he was having a normal day when, as usual, something happens. So why isToshirou and the gang from soul society here and what's this about a maturing stage. Not sure if there will be any pairings yet. First fanfiction so plz review.
1. Chapter 1

Power

Narration and character talk

_Character thinking_

**_Inner Hollow speaking_**

**Zangetsu speaking**

Chapter 1

It was a normal day in Karakura. Well, as "normal" as it can get anyway. Substitute soul reaper Kurosaki Ichigo was now attending university, while slaying any hollows he came across. None were very powerful, just a normal day of work. The war with the quincy had ended with him, yet again, saving soul society by defeating their leader. Everything was now at peace.

"Kurosaki-san!" He turned around to see that it was none other than Orihime Inoue.

"Hey Inoue" he responded.

"I made a new recipe, how about you try it out?" He silently gulped. Last time he had tried ANYTHING Orihime made, he had indigestion for at least three days.

"You know what? Karin and Yuzu reeeeaaaally wanted me to eat supper with them tonight so… some other time, okay?"

She looked a bit disappointed. However it was soon replaced by a bright smile: "No problem, maybe another time."

They said their farewells and each headed home.

Halfway there, however, Ichigo started to fee an aching pain starting by his head and spreading throughout his body. The more he walked, the stronger it got. _What the hell Tsushiro, are you doing this?_

Tsushiro, as he now called his Inner Hollow wasn't supposed to take over his body again since, to defeat the quincy, he had to make a deal with him. They now resided in the same body in peace. Tsushiro was heard whenever he spoke and Ichigo became a lot stronger thanks to the new bond with his hollow.

**_No way king, ya know I ain't the kinda person to go back on a deal, don't cha?_**

_Then what is it?_

**Ichigo, you need to get away from Karakura as soon as possible, **responded Zangetsu's reassuring voice, **you're maturing and the increase in your power will cause much damage to anything around you. If you want to keep this town intact, you need to go now.**

He had long since learned to listen to Zangetsu because his words where always wise. So, taking Kon out of his bag (he decided to hitch a ride hoping to find some "Hot babes" on the way), took out the pill from the plushy's mouth and swallowed. He instantly jumped out of his body and headed out of town.

Kon blinked: "What the hell, where is he going all of a sudden…probably to slay a hollow I guess…" He spoke to himself as he headed home.

Meanwhile, as Ichigo was speeding away from home, the pain started to intensify to an almost unbearable feeling. _No, I have to continue until there is no one for kilometers. I don't want anyone to get hurt._

Just as he arrived to a clearing, a good ways away from any civilization, a burning pain shot throughout his body, dragging him to a brutal and painful landing on the cold dirt. He felt as if his limbs were tearing and his blood becoming hot like burning fire. His skin was prickling, as if someone had stabbed a few million needles through it.

The pain was becoming unbearable to the point that he was biting his tongue, his mouth now dripping from the blood, to not scream. But at the end, he couldn't help it. It was even worse than the time when he lost his powers after the winter war, especially since this time he wasn't falling unconscious. A scream, resembling more like the roar of a beast, tore from his lips. That was the last thing he remembered before his vision darkened.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Meanwhile, the Kurosaki household was pretty quiet since Isshin was still working. Yuzu was cooking dinner and Karin, as per usual, was watching some random show on tv.

Suddently, the black haired sister sensed something: "What is this? Maybe another one of these weird monsters popped up somewhere." Just as she said that, Rukia entered the kitchen, followed by another red haired man.

"Sorry about barging in like this girls, but do you know where your brother might be?"

Yuzu answered: "No, he was coming back from college but he hasn't arrived yet. Funny, he should've been here by now."

"Rukiaaaaa! My third daughter has come back to meee!" said Isshin as he barged into the conversation, "If you need a place to stay, my door is always open!"

She smiled, Isshin was like a father to her. Although he always seemed to be acting like a child, after the war with the quincy, she found out that he was really a soul reaper, and that somehow reassured her. With everything that's been going on, she thought that he would've at least suspected SOMETHING. However, that little detail of himself put that little worry to rest.

"Thank you very much mister Kurosaki, but would mind housing another guest as well?"

"Of course not, of course not! After this hour of the night, if Ichigo hasn't come back yet means he won't be back until morning so you can take his bed."

"Arigatou" they both said simultaneously.

As they were heading upstairs, Renji wondered out loud: "I wonder where that idiot disappeared to? You think he got into some kind of weird trouble like he always does?"

"I don't know. I don't feel his spiritual pressure anywhere in Karakura, which isn't normal. He usually lets his power out as if it was a signal flare so not being able to sense it is kind of strange."

Her partner thought this over before he said this: "Yea but he always disappears at weird moments like the time he went to train with the vaizards so I don't think he's in any deep trouble, at least nothing he can't handle by himself. Besides, you know that babysitting him isn't the mission that we were assigned."

He was right, she thought as she remembered the reason why they had come here in the first place.

In the morning, after a buffet like breakfast from Yuzu, the two shinigamis headed out to meet captain Hitsugaya. They arrived to Orihime's apartment and entered without bothering to knock. Inside, the young captain was surrounded by a buffet fit for ten. The food, however, didn't seem to last that long and one would wonder if he even chewed before swallowing.

"So, how is everything going?" interrupted Rukia.

"Well, the captain is eating five times more than usual and he seems to have double the bad mood but, other than that, everything's just dandy" answered his lieutenant, Matsumoto Rangiku.

Renji chuckled: "Yea I guess it's to be expected from someone that's just maturing."

"Yo! So, where's Ichigo. I thought you'd bring him with you." Said Ikkaku as he came into the room, soon followed by Yumichika.

"He wasn't there. It seems he's gotten himself into some other mess, but I don't think he'll need any help." Replied Renji

The bald third seat snorted at that: "Yea, good old Ichigo."

The white haired captain looked up from his bowl of rice: "why would you want to bring Kurosaki here?"

"Captain Ukitake said that since you're maturing, there's a good chance that he is too. After the quincy war, Unohana noticed that his zanpaktou wasn't mature yet so that's what got the Captain wondering." Replied Rukia.

Renji narrowed his eyes at that: "Wait, you don't think he's maturing now, do you?"

Silence fell in the room. "Well wherever he is and whatever he's doing, he's powerful enough to take care of himself." Said Ikakku.

They all nodded at that and the small captain continued his lunch.

Meanwhile, our substitute soul reaper was waking up on the cold hard dirt of the ground he fell upon. _What the hell? Where am? _Then the memories came back rushing to him. _I think I better head back home and maybe ask Urahara what's going on. _He thought as he headed towards Karakura.

**Author's note: There wasn't much action in this chapter but just to let you know what's going on so you can understand the story.**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

As he entered his home town, he decided to head towards Urahara's shop. _If anyone knows what's happening here, it'll be him._ However, just as he was heading in said direction, he felt a strong spiritual pressure coming close. As he concentrated on it, he recognised that it was none other than Rukia: "Ichigo!" She called as she neared the orange haired teen's location.

"Yo Rukia…" a strong punch came crashing right in the middle of his face. _Yep, it's Rukia all right._

"Don't 'Yo Rukia' me you moron! Where the hell have you been, I couldn't even find you near Karakura."

As he got up, rubbing his bruised face, he answered: "Well actually I was going to head towards Urahara's to ask him about what's going on. My inner world just went berserk all of a sudden and this time it wasn't Tsushiro."

"I think I have the answer to that. Come on."

He raised his eyebrow, wondering, but followed her nonetheless.

"Taichoooooooo! You've eaten literally everything in this house, and you're still hungry!" Whined Rangiku. _At this rate, I won't be able to go shopping! Who knew that just babysitting the captain when he's growing into a man could be this much work. I thought this would be funny…_

"Stop whining! You came here on your own, I didn't force you!" He responded. It's not like he wasn't sick of this too, he wanted to do something else and having his lieutenant hang out around him 24/7 was driving him nuts. _But,_ he reminded himself, _I have to get this over with or else I won't be able to go back to soul society any time soon. _In fact, no one was allowed to go to soul society when in this stage and there was a specific reason for that. When reaching the final level of their zanpaktou, which is what he will be doing when he's done to finalize everything, a soul reaper 3rd seat or higher can release a wave of energy so big it can wipe out an entire district of rukongai. The reason why it's better in the real world is that this specific power wave doesn't affect the ones that aren't spiritually aware.

Renji rolled his eyes. They've been at it for the last hour. Just then, someone entered the small apartment: "Hey Rukia, Ichigo. So, who kicked your ass this time carrot top?"

"Can it Renji! I'm definitely not in the mood" answered the said teen "anyway Rukes, you were going to explain to me what's going on right?"

She nodded: "What you're going through now, captain Hitsugaya here is too. You see, when a soul is made a soul reaper at a very young age, their zanpaktou isn't mature yet, but I think you knew that much already" he nodded as she continued "now when you enter this stage, your inner world basically shifts so it can better fit your power, since it will be growing tremendously. However, no one having an inner hollow has ever matured before in the history of soul society, so we can't know for sure what'll happen with you."

That last information kind of made him uneasy. Usually, before the quincy war, everything involving his hollow was very painful and mentally exhausting. "I guess I'll just wait and see. I mean, it's just like a growth spurt right? It can't hurt me."

"It huuuurts!" he whined to himself. He was now sprawled on his bedroom floor, rolling around from the pain. After he bid farewell to his friends, he decided to go back home and get some rest. It seems though that he won't be getting any sleep any time soon. Just then, everything intensified and his vision went black yet again

Rukia was lying on the futon, generously provided by Inoue, and staring at the ceiling. She couldn't get her mind off of what had happened to Ichigo. _Usually, when a soul reaper passes through that stage, the only apparent change is the increase in the amount of food they eat per day. However, none are supposed to disappear just like that. It could be the hollow, although… _She stopped her though right there as she remembered her little talk with Kisuke earlier when she arrived in the real world.

Flashback

The small group of soul reapers had just gotten out of the senkai gate, in front of the Urahara shop. They didn't intend on staying there, it was just a specific place that they all knew and where it was easier to meet up.

"We'll call if we need your assistance, Kisuke", said the small captain, starting to feel quite hungry.

He nodded and the group headed out. "Ah, Kuchiki-san, may I have a word with you?"

Said soul reaper halted and walked towards the shopkeeper: "What is it, Urahara?"

"As you may have already heard from Ukitake, our dear Kurosaki-san is going through the same trouble as Hitsugaya here" he spoke as she nodded "however, I must advise you to stay clear of him for the next week or so. This time, his hollow won't be the attacker."

As he finished, he entered his shop: "Be careful, Kuchiki-san, and have a pleasant day."

"Wait, Urahara, wha…?" She tried but he had already closed the door. This was puzzling, to say the least, but thinking about it, he's always been like that. _I suppose I'll just find out sooner or later what he meant. _She thought as she headed in the direction of Orihime's house.

End of flashback

An inhuman roar tore through the night's silence, and it wasn't anything near a hollow's howl.

"What the fuck was that, it sure as hell ain't a hollow, there's no freakin spiritual pressure!" Renji, Ikkaku and Yumichika were awakened by the strange noise. The captain, after having eaten too much for his own good, couldn't get up even if he wanted to and Rangiku was, well… Rangiku.

"I don't know but something tells me it has something to do with our favorite green horn." Answered Ikkaku as they all headed towards Ichigo's house.

What they saw was certainly nothing they expected. A few meters over the Kurosaki household stood a black beast. It was covered in a sort of armour, some parts gold, others white as a hollow's mask. It was covered in a thick jet black fur coat and its head resembled somewhat a wolf's. It stood on its two legs however and had what looked like an overgrown sealed Zangetsu on its left hip. It let out another inhuman howl as it opened its eyes, that were a yellowish golden color.

Just then, it noticed the four new arrivals. Renji had no time to dodge as he suffered from a direct hit and blacked out.

**Okay so I'm not really sure about this one so plz tell me what you think about it and thx for reading! :D**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Sweat glistened down the raven haired soul reaper's forehead as she faced the unknown enemy. She couldn't contact soul society for backup because the power wave that he or it was emitting, although they couldn't feel it, was interfering with the communication between this world and the next.

"Aaaaaaaaaaahh!" Ikkaku attacked the beast head on as any 11th squad member would. However, the wolf-like creature grabbed him and his weapon with its tail, squeezing the man and his zanpaktou together in a very uncomfortable state. It spun around twice with its victim in hand and banged his head on a close by roof, completely destroying the building. Luckily, they were in an abandoned area.

"Damn it, what the hell is that thing?! There's no reatsu whatsoever so we don't even know how strong it is." Said Yumichika. He could release his true zanpaktou now that Ikkaku was out but there was still the raven haired lieutenant standing so he couldn't risk it.

"Yumichika, corner him, I may have an idea." She said as she flew away. The 5th seat nodded, she was a higher officer after all. He charged at the monster, slashing at an amazing speed that was however easily dodged. But, he had the effect he wanted, it was backing away. Not by fear mind, mind you, it was preparing for another huge attack. He couldn't let that happen. He accelerated his pace, his breath now quickening, as he attacked. _Just a little more…Got him! _Just as he was going to give one last slash, the beast opened his mouth and fired a blast straight in his face. Luckily for him, because of the proximity, the beast's aim was off and he was able to dodge the blow. It's a good thing he did: the blast continued on farther than the eye can see, disappearing on the horizon, annihilating anything on its path.

The shinigami shunpoed a few meters away, wide eyed. The beast, with the intent on following him, took a step forward, but it was too late. White beams stroke it of all directions, preventing it from escaping to one side or the other, turning the once fearsome creature into a huge block of ice. Adorning a stoic face, Rukia stood proudly from her latest attack as her enemy shot towards the ground.

"I think you got him." Said Yumichika, still wide eyed and slightly disturbed by what he saw. The lieutenant nodded: "Yes but we better make sure everyone is okay and take them to Urahara. Not only will he be able to heal them but he will probably have an answer to what that thing was."

As they were starting to move, the ice cracked, making both shinigami draw their swords and take a fighting stance. However, what happened baffled both: when the ice broke, instead of a beast, the orange haired teen emerged, unconscious.

…..

Hytsugaya woke up to the first rays of light. His lieutenant was still sleeping, as usual, but the rest of the team had unusually disappeared. Alarmed, he urgently shook his subordinate: "Matsumoto! Wake up!"

"Huh? Wha…what's going on taicho, it's way too early!" she responded. "No time for this! Everyone is gone; we need to go check with Urahara. If they haven't come back yet, something must've happened and they're getting healed."

"Fine fine…" After he waited more than 2 hours for her to lazily get out of bed, they headed out.

Arriving to the old shop, they entered without bothering to knock, only to notice that just Kuchiki, Urahara and Yoruichi were sitting at the table, with a solemn face. Although not always being very reliable, Rangiku was genuinely worried: "What's wrong, where are the others?" Urahara gave her a forced smile and nodded towards the hall: "They're resting right now, none of their lives were in danger but why don't you go check on them Matsumoto fukutaicho?" Understanding that this was her cue to leave, she stepped out of the room, towards the hallway, followed by Yoruichi.

The captain sat down, frowning: "So what's going on?" Urahara sighed: "You know Kurosaki is maturing, just as you are, right taicho?" The small captain nodded as the shopkeeper continued: "Well, we all know that Isshin, his father, was the 11th squad's captain, basically a soul reaper. However, most captains think that his mother is human… but she actually isn't." At that, Toshirou gave a puzzled face. The reason Kurosaki was a soul reaper and a hollow at the same time was because his father was contaminated by Aizen. However, none other never before seen abilities have appeared so everyone supposed that his mother was indeed human. "About 80 years after we'd come to the real world, me being exiled and Isshin having run away, we met this lone woman who had unusual abilities, but didn't seem to have a drop of spiritual pressure. Curious, we approached her. Although she didn't want to tell us her exact origins, she said that the next child she would bear would be an heir to a very important position and that she was here solely to accomplish that mission. Although he found her a bit odd, Isshin fell in love. However, she warned him: "If you truly want to share a life with me, the first child I will bear will take the entirety of your powers in order for him to be born. They will be returned to you 2 years before his maturation, in which time you can use his abilities for your personal needs. After that 2 years period, he will become impossible to control for your kind and will have to take his rightful position as my heir."

When she made that statement, an idea started to build. Kurosaki, that would be born, whether he was a male or female, would have more power than any soul reaper in soul society and would have never known Aizen. Basically, he was the perfect opponent. Aizen seemed to think that he could absorb his powers thanks to the hougyouku and so sent a hollow in his sector, knowing full well that Rukia would be there and she was a high level shinigami. And, as according to both our plans, Kurosaki's powers ended up awakened and he was introduced to soul society when he invaded it to save Rukia. However, Aizen wasn't aware of the extent of power the kid would have and ended up defeated. And, this whole time, even when he lost them, he was only using his soul reaper powers. His other power, coming from his mother, would activate at the age of 18. I've calculated however that if he was to mature without his soul reaper powers, as he lost them after the winter war, the waves coming from this maturation would be enough to reach soul society through the senkai gate and cause severe damage. Luckily, the fullbringers came in and I had a reason to ask soul society to give him his powers back, without revealing any of this."

Toshirou was puzzled: "But why are you telling us this now?"

"Because now that he has matured, he is safe from any harm that the central 46 could inflict since he is obviously too different from our kind to ignore that fact" responded the slightly older man.

A few quiet moments passed. Urahara had an unreadable expression while Rukia looked slightly worried and the captain was trying to catch up with all the new information he acquired. Finally, he rose from the table: "I'm going to report this to soul society tomorrow since the stage will be done by then. If you don't mind by me staying here tonight"

"Not at all"

"Then pleased excuse me" as he said so, he headed through the hallway, closing the door behind him.

"So now what happens?" asked Rukia "is he just going to leave and neer come back or is the position he will be assigned known by soul society?"

"No one knows, Miss Kuchiki. Only time will tell, only time.

**Sorry for the long wait but I'll try to post more often. Reviews are welcomed!**


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